Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jackie Stewart, Winston Churchill: pre-war British yacht’s storied past comes back to life in Japan, cigar burn included
- Cynara, one of only a few great pre-war classic yachts that survive to this day, once played host to movie stars and moguls, racing drivers and world leaders
- After falling into disrepair and obscurity an award-winning restoration project in Japan has got her shipshape once more and she has been invited to grace events at the Tokyo Olympics
In its annual awards, Classic Boat magazine named Cynara as the best restored sailing vessel over 40ft in the world and she is already turning heads as she cuts through the waters off her home port on the Miura Peninsula, some 60km south of Tokyo.
That return to the ocean is a remarkable recovery for the 109 feet gaff ketch, built by the now-closed Camper & Nicholson shipyard in Gosport and launched in 1927, whose looks and fame faded after she was bought by a Japanese businessman in 1973.
Time and tides had taken a toll on Cynara, one of only a handful of the great pre-war classic yachts that survive to this day, and it took six years to complete a renovation that took her back to her wooden ribs and individual brass nails – and commenced with a Shinto priest giving the vessel and the repair team a ritual blessing.
The work was carried out by a 50-strong team of specialist craftsmen from 12 countries overseen by a master shipwright from London who is now based in Majorca.
“When I was first asked to look at Cynara by the Riviera Group in May 2017 she was definitely looking a bit sorry for herself and needed some surgery, but there was a boat there and she had potential,” said Paul Harvey. “That was enough for me.”
